The Dirty Dozen

During World War II, Major Reisman is called to a high level meeting to discuss his next mission – to train a group of soldiers and prepare them for a mission behind enemy lines. However the `soldiers' that Reisman has been assigned are all sentenced to death or life in prison for their crimes. The mission is a suicide mission on a French chateau where German top brass will be, the aim being to kill as many as possible. But before the mission, the group must pass a training to be considered for pardoning.

Well known by all men everywhere, this is less a serious war movie and more an enjoyable ensemble romp through a training camp, with the final third being the mission itself. This is the film's strength – the training sections are very enjoyable and good fun to watch. The mission is punchy and dramatic and works very well as the conclusion to the film rather than the whole film itself (which other `mission' films have to do). The training is slick and enjoyable, not only it is occasionally quite funny but it is also consistently amusing and exciting at turns.

The film's main selling point (increasingly so) is the all star cast, all of whom do really good work. Marvin is tough in the lead and he is well supported by Borgnine, Kennedy, Ryan and Jaeckel playing the other officers. Of the prisoners Cassavetes steals the show with his cocky Franko although he is not short of famous support. Sutherland (although not well known at the time) is good comic relief, Savalas is a little too heavy for the film but adds menace, Bronson is good value, Brown is strong and is well known due to a weepy Billy Crystal! The rest of the dozen give good performances, but I'll be honest and say that the famous faces stuck in my mind more.

Overall this is not a wonderful film and, as a war movie it isn't the best `mission' movie you could find (simply cause the mission is quite short and straightforward. However it is a fun movie that never drags despite the slightly longer than normal running time for this type of movie. The training section and the mission itself combine to form an enjoyable film that is driven by a great cast playing good characters.

Quentin Tarantino looks like he just might follow through with his threat to make the ultimate "guys on a mission movie" if he gets his 'Inglorious Bastards' on to the big screen, but he'll be pushed to equal 'The Dirty Dozen', the quintessential movie in the genre. 35 years on and it's still one of the best WW2 adventure movies, and a strong contender for the ultimate guys movie. It shouldn't be taken too seriously - I don't think anyone is going to argue it's a realistic depiction of war - but it's still one of the most entertaining movies around, and it's impressive collection of tough guys and character actors is really hard to beat. Director Aldrich had previously made the classic noir 'Kiss Me Deadly' (starring Ralph Meeker who reappears here in a supporting role) and the wonderfully creepy 'Whatever Happened To Baby Jane', but this is arguably going to be THE movie he's remembered for. Screen legend Lee Marvin ('Point Blank', 'The Killers') with the assistance of his Sgt (Richard Jaeckel), must train a motley collection of criminal and misfits (including John Cassavetes, Jim Brown, Telly Savalas, Charles Bronson, Clint Walker and Donald Sutherland), for a suicide mission behind enemy lines. Marvin is just great, extremely cool and charismatic, but also a fine actor, something which is often overlooked. The ensemble cast (which also includes George Kennedy, and two future stars of 'The Wild Bunch', Ernest Borgnine and Robert Ryan) are uniformly excellent, but Cassavetes is particularly outstanding, Sutherland is memorable as a half wit, and Savalas is unforgettable as the religious psychopath Maggott. 'The Dirty Dozen' is first class entertainment and highly recommended. It put 90% of today's "action movies" to shame!

Heart-pounding and adrenaline-rushing action giant that still packs a punch that will knock you out. A dozen criminals (Oscar-nominee John Cassavetes, Telly Savalas, Jim Brown, Charles Bronson and Donald Sutherland being the major standouts) are trained for a suicide mission into Nazi territory in 1944 and act as assassins. If you want to catch a thief, you hire a thief and that is the same principle used throughout this impressive motion picture. Lee Marvin does some of his best work as the leader of the rag-tag bunch of miscreants. Serves its purpose to near perfection. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

A group of conscripted convicts formed by twelve condemned , already destined for death row, are drafted to go on a near-suicide mission and attempt to eliminate a Nazi staff . ¨Dirty Dozen¨ is an entertaining film with Lee Marvin as tough officer along with the ordinary team of renegade soldiers of World War II . Marvin training a group of rebel and misfit soldiers for a dangerous assault on a palace-château. In the hands of hardboiled director Robert Aldrich and a tough-as-leather cast headed by Lee Marvin , as a troublesome U.S. Army Major , that's all the plot that's needed to make one rip-roaring wartime flick. Marvin's mission is two-fold and in violent and cynical style : first turn his prisoners into a fighting unit and then turn them loose on a German fortress located in Britain . His crime-minded characters include John Cassavetes as rebel inmate , Clint Walker as a chronic malcontent, Telly Savalas as a ready-to-blow psycho, Donald Sutherland as a lame-brained convict and many others . The first half of the film allows the colorful cast of character actors to have their fun as they get their tails whipped into shape and develop shaky relationship with their leader. The final part is all action, as the culprit commandos wreck havoc and then run for their lives. Despite the fact that few of the "heroes" survive the bloodbath, the message here isn't that war is hell. Rather, it seems to be: war can be a hell of a good time... if you've got nothing to lose . The relentless assignment is set against strong training, risked adventures and hazardous feats . The dangerous mission includes a numerous group formed by a motley and diverse squadron played by all-star cast .This is a rugged WWII actioner concerning about an experienced officer , Major Reisman , he's assigned by Military staff (Ernest Borgnine who acted in the original and all the sequels, Robert Webber , George Kennedy) to train a dropout group of murderers , criminals and rapists who get a chance to redeem themselves . They are a bunch of dispensable characters with no past and no future . Lee Marvin reprieves a bunch of ¨Death Row¨ inmates , forges them into a two-fisted fighting unit and leads them on a deadly assignment into Nazi territory , but there is a religious crazy in the team .The prisoners are oddballs , rag-tag and undisciplined gang (a large cast formed by John Cassavetes, Clint Walker , Donald Sutherland, Telly Savalas , Jim Brown , Charles Bronson, Trini Lopez), under command a sergeant (Richard Jaeckel). The team is hardly trained by the Major Reisman . In this film Marvin and his motley band , the Dirty Dozen, are suppose to destroy a fortress where resides various Nazi officers . Then they are parachuted and arrive in French Bretain and attacking the palace . At the end they must participate in the suicidal mission behind the enemy lines , to wipe the German group by means of a violent assault over a strongly protected castle.

Lee Marvin as Major Reisman assumes the character of the leader of the Dirty Dozen in this wartime classic movie directed by Robert Aldrich and based on the characters created by T.M. Nathanson , being scripted by Nunnally Johnson and Lukas Heller. This moving film packs frantic thrills, perilous adventures , relentless feats , and buck-loads of explosive action and violence. The noisy action is uniformly well-made, especially deserving of mention the rip-roaring final scenes on the fortress , including some spectacular shootouts and bombing . Apart from the values of team spirit , cudgeled by Lee Marvin into his rebel group , the film is full of feats , suspense , and thrills . Rough Marvin is good as leader of the motley pack together thwart the Nazi schemes, as well as the largely secondary cast with special mention to Telly Savalas and Donald Sutherland . Atmospheric and martial musical score by Frank De Vol and appropriate cinematography filmed by Edward Scaife in several locations from Gaddesden, Hertfordshire , England and MGM British studios, Borehamwood . This is is a wartime typical vehicle and into the ¨warlike commando genre¨ , which also belong : Where eagles dare(Brian G. Hutton) and Kelly's heroes(Hutton ), Tobruk (Arthur Hiller), Devil's Brigade (Andrew V McLagen) and many others .

This exciting , original and Box-Office hit ,¨Dirty dozen¨ was followed by various sequels , a trio of inferior Telefilms (1985 , 87 , 88) as ¨Dirty Dozen II: The next mission ¨ by Andrew V McLagen with Lee Marvin and Richard Jaeckel, Borgnine , Larry Wilcox and Wolf Kahler , ¨Dirty Dozen III : Deadly mission¨ by Lee H Katzin and ¨Dirty Dozen : Fatal mission¨ also by Lee H Katzin and starred by Telly Savalas replacing Lee Marvin; both of them shot at the same time with similar actors and director ; furthermore a TV series.

A generally entertaining war film with no real political axe to grind or patriotic flagwaving getting in the way. Its very dangerous trying to humourise war in the movies, because that would be offensive to all those that had served & died in real life. Kelly's Heroes and 1941 probably went a little too far, pretending that war is really fun & cool when you've got people like Clint Eastwood in charge. But then you have other war films that are black in its humour but manage to keep into focus the cruelty & horrors of war at the same time - M*A*S*H and Catch 22 are the best examples. With Dirty Dozen we have something of a go-between; the humour amongst the characters is light & welcoming but never falls into farce or bad-taste; and Aldrich quickly pulls us back into the fold with some tight scripted scenes of drama & mass murder (throwing petrol & grenades into that German bunker to name but one. I often wonder about that scene, and whether it was some kind of metaphor for the gas chambers & concentration camps in Belsen) But unlike MASH & Catch 22, Aldrich resists the temptation to openly politicise the effects of war, after all this film was made in '67 near the height of the Vietnam war/protests. Instead he takes a straight line course of action and lets us be moved & entertained by the convicted GIs doing their duty. Marvin is excellent as the hardnosed but disobediant Major. He plays the anti-hero far better than Eastwood in Kelly's Heroes. Marvin just looks the type who'd give the top brass as well the Germans a real hard time. But special mention must go to Cassavettes as Viktor Franko, the trouble-maker's trouble-maker. His character is so refreshing & wild amongst a relatively mild cast of supporting extras, with the exception of Savalas. Franko is the Joker of the pack but you soon feel an attachment for him in spite of his crimes. Sutherland & Bronson, don't really add much. The former plays a slightly naive man who hasn't really grown up and Bronson just smirks & mumbles a lot. The only other character worthy of a mention is the truly terrifying Savalas, who is a Christian through & through, yet hates all women as much as the Germans; and has a most spine chilling laugh! Difficult to believe this man later became Kojak! The film is a tad overlong; the first & last 40 minutes hold the interest but the middle section (the War Games scene), is far too long and generally detracts. All the same, DD is a very good movie, especially for those who don't want to be politically moralised too. ***/*****